Released it or NDAs end.

TDPs the same? Bah! I’m looking at a 7900 build and this would be two generations that cannot match its energy efficiency.

Not sure why you think that. It really depends on the performance of the new parts. If they’re (pulling numbers completely out of thin air) 25% faster at the same TDP, then that’s definitely more efficient. At that point it you can just use PBO to tune performance down to whichever power envelope fits your use case

7900x is considerably less power efficient than the 9900x though, performing slower and drawing more power

Look at the idle power draw. The 9900 is higher and the performance is not that much better.

AM5 still yes?

AMD Ryzen 9 9900X Review - But that Price

The Ryzen 9 9900X, with its 12-core/24-thread design, is designed for those looking to go beyond eight cores. It delivers solid gaming performance and benefits from a 120W TDP. Despite its performance, the $500 cost is high, especially when considering similar products in its category.

TechPowerUp (www.techpowerup.com)

Lower power use by the 9900x across the board, idle included. If your focus is lower idle use though, either are clearly not good choices

Hmm you’re right. It looks like it CAN draw more power but under the same load would draw less. How did I make that mistake? Thanks for correcting me.

Steam Deck 1 (also called “Steam Deck One” or “The First Steam Deck”) uses Ryzen 2. Not gonna say anything else.

Apologies in advance for being overly pedantic, but it’s Zen 2, not Ryzen 2. Ryzen is a generic brand, when Zen is the architecture family.